Roraback Stands Out As Republican For 5th District

Connecticut residents can best serve themselves and the nation by sending people to Congress who can help break through the paralytic gridlock in Washington to forge sensible policy. In the Republican primary for the 5th Congressional District seat, the candidate most likely to meet that standard is state Sen. Andrew Roraback.

The Courant endorses Mr. Roraback in the Aug. 14 primary. Our endorsement for the general election will appear in October.

Why Mr. Roraback?

Mr. Roraback, 52, of Goshen, stands out in a strong field of candidates. In 18 years in the General Assembly, six in the House and 12 in the Senate, he has shown an ability to work across the aisle and play a constructive role in fashioning good legislation.

Mr. Roraback is a fiscal conservative but not an ideologue. For example, he was a co-sponsor of the Community Investment Act of 2005, which created a fund from real estate recording fees that has produced tens of millions of dollars for farmland and open space preservation, affordable housing and historic preservation. No law has promoted sensible growth or protected key aspects of the state's quality of life as meaningfully as this one.

Mr. Roraback's legislative record also includes bills on domestic violence, bullying, drunken driving and countless nut-and-bolt bills that fix small problems and don't grab the headlines.

In short, Mr. Roraback is that endangered species, a traditional New England Republican, a conservative interested in environmental conservation and keeping government out of our personal lives. He has a reputation for hard work and personal integrity, and would represent the district well.

The Others

His challengers also have strengths. Mark Greenberg, 58, of Litchfield is a business executive who is pushing for most of the GOP agenda — lower taxes, smaller government, repeal of the Affordable Care Act. What sets him apart is his passionate advocacy for simplifying the tax code. Untangling that Gordian knot, however, is going to take remarkable political skill — which argues for someone with Mr. Roraback's experience. Also, Mr. Greenberg's recent disparaging comments on Islam as a "cult in many respects" were disturbing.

Justin Bernier, 36, is a well-spoken man whose service as a Naval intelligence officer in Afghanistan would inform his judgment about committing American troops on foreign soil. He also directed the state's Office of Military Affairs under Gov.M. Jodi Rell, so is well versed in defense issues. But not in some others. In opposing the Affordable Care Act, he calls it a "government takeover of health care." He is a little hazy on how bringing 30 million people to the private insurance market is a government takeover.

Mr. Bernier has tried to portray himself as more conservative than Mr. Roraback. The label is not as important as the quality of the candidate. Mr. Bernier may well have a future in elective politics, but would be well advised to start in the General Assembly.

Lisa Wilson-Foley, 52, of Simsbury has been a successful business owner and entrepreneur. She, however, exercised terrible judgment by engaging former Gov. John Rowland as a campaign adviser. While Mr. Rowland was promoting Ms. Wilson-Foley on his radio show and attacking her opponents, he was being paid $5,000 a month as a consultant to the nursing home chain run by her husband.

The arrangement is now under federal investigation. Crime or not, it was a really bad idea. Ms. Wilson-Foley has a few other bad ideas; she, for example, would support a bill making English the country's official language. This is a needlessly divisive idea, a solution for which there is no discernible problem.